Compressed-air



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[No Model.)

F. SGHUMACHER QMW/D.

COMPRESSED AIR MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY ROLLING .STOQK, 8w.

(Appfication filed Aug. 4, 1898.)

Patent ad May 30, I899.

4 Shouts-Shoot I.

awn em;

No. 625,853.. 3 Patented May 30, I899.

r. SCHUMACHER. I

COMPBESSEP'AIR MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK, 8w.

(Application filed Aug. 4, 1898.)

(N0 Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

CIIA'IIIIIIL'VIIIIIIIIIIIII/ld ,853. Patented May 30, "399.

F. SCHUMACHEB.

COMPRESSED AIR MECHANISM FOB RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK, 81.0.

(Ap plication filed Aug. 4, was.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

No. 625,853. Patented May 30, I899.-

F. SCHUMACHER.

COMPRESSED AIR MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK, 8w.

(Application filed Aug. 4, 1898.) v

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

I II

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

FERDINAND SCHUMA CHER, OF IRON RIDGE, \VISCONSIN.

COMPRESSED-AIR MEEHANISM FOR RAILWAY ROLLING-STOCK, dc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,853, dated May 30,1899.

' Application filed August 4, 1898. Serial No. 687,697. on model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FERDINAND SCHU- MACHER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Iron Ridge,'in the county of Dodge and Stateof Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCompressed- Ai rMechanism for Railway Rollin g-S took and other Devices;and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

Referring to my United States Patent No. 601,285, issued March 29, 1898,the present. improvements pertain to the utilization of compressed airas a means for absorbing vibration and reducing friction. Therefore theyconsist in certain peculiarities of construction and combination ofparts hereinafter set forth with reference to the accompanying drawingsand subsequently claimed, especial attention being given to theapplication of said improvements in connection with railwayrolling-stock.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a longitudinal sectional view of asix-wheel railwaytruck and a portion of acar thereon, together with acompressed-air mechanism according to my invention; Fig. 2, a detailsectional viewon the plane indicated by line 2 2 in the fourth figure,illustrating the detail construction and arrangement of parts employedin connection with a car-axle and journahbox for the same; Fig. 3, adetail plan view, partly in horizontal section on the plane indicated byline 3 3 in the preceding figure; Figs. 4c and 5, detail transversesections respectively indicated by lines 4; 4 and 5 5 in the secondfigure; Fig. 6, a detail sectional View illustrating construction andarrangement of parts employed in connection with another car-axle andajournal-box for the same; Fig.7, a transverse section indicated byline7 7in the preceding figure; Fig. 8, a sectional view of an truck is abracket 0, having an eye at its lower end engaged by an extremity of abar link I) with a friction-Wheel H, carried by the lever in oppositionto said axle. That end of the lever farthest from the friction-wheel isopposed to a spring 0, that sets in a cup-disk connected to anadjusting-screw d, engaging barD, and the air-pump cylinder hasadjustable valve-controlled flexible pipe connection with a reservoir Iand a casing J, the latter containing an expansible diaphragm (notshown) having a central stem 6 in opposition to a lever E under thelatter between its fulcrum and said friction-wheel.

From the foregoing it will be understood that spring 0 operates at timesto tilt lever E, and thereby bring and hold friction-Wheel H in forciblecontact with the adjacent axle. There being revolution of the axle, thefriction-wheel H, when in contact therewith, will cause reciprocation ofair-pu mp piston G until accumulated air in reservoir I and casing J hasa predetermined degree of pressure suffi cient to cause lift of saidlever by stem e cylindrical pots K, auxiliary air-chambers L,

pressure-governors M, and casings for truckaxle bearing-blocks,hereinafter particularly. specified. A pot K and a governor M are madefast to each equalizing-bar N of the truck, and the auxiliaryair-chambers L are clamped on timbers of said truck. As herein shown,each pot K is supported by an equalizing-barN at a point approximatelyonethird the length of said bar from an. outer axle, and thereforeapproximately two-thirds the length of the aforesaid bar from the middleaxle of the six-wheel truck.

Each of the pots K contains an air-tight piston P in ball-and-socket orotherwise flexible joint connection with the lower end of a .low thesame.

stem P, and the upper end of this stem is trunnioned or otherwiseflexibly joined to a truck-timber. Compressed air is admitted into eachpot below the piston therein to cushion, load, and absorb vibration, thevolume of this compressed air exertive against all the pistons beingautomatically regulated by the several governors to maintain the load ata predetermined elevation+such, for instance, as is herein shown.

The auxiliary air-chambers L are employed for the reason that it is notconvenient to make the pots K of such dimensions as will at all timesinsure of a sufficient volume of the compressed air being exertedagainst the pistons that have their play in said pots, and each chamberis herein shown as having an inlet-nozzlefand an outlet-nozzle g, eachcontaining a spring-controlled check-valve, the latter being shown inFig. 9, and by means of cocks h t' the passage of air through thesenozzles may be readily regulated or prevented. There may be any numberof the auxiliary air-chambers, as found most convenient or desirable,and any one of the same may be out off from the air-pipe system tolessen the volume of compressed air exertive against the pistonsaforesaid.

As shown by Fig. 8, each of the governors M embodies a shell having aninlet in direct pipe connection with the reserve-supply airreservoir I,the admission of compressed air to said reservoir being controlled by aspring check-valve 7' within a vertical cell of the shell, and the stemjof this valve is loose in a cross-arm 7c, herein shown as havingscrewthread adjustable connection with the rod Q of a piston Q, havingair-tight play in a lower chamber of the said shell, this chamber beingprovided with relief-cocks in above and below the piston. Anexhaust-port of the shell is closed by a spring-controlled checkvalve91, and the stem at of this valve is also loose in the cross-arm 7c,nuts 19 q, adjustable on the valve-stems j n, being opposed to saidcross-arm, one above and the other be- The valve n is within anothervertical cell of the shell aforesaid, and the latter cell communicateswith a passage leading from the former cell in which the valve j has itsseat. valve 41 has an outlet coupled to that portion of the air-pipesystem in direct communication with one of the aforesaid pots andtruckaxle bearing-block casings, the passage of air from said cell beingregulated by adjustment ofa cock r, the latter being indicated in Fig.1.

The rod Q of each piston Q is connected to one end of a spring-arm R,and the other end of this arm is adjustable with nuts on a screwthreadedstem 8 depending from a trucktimber. The valve-stems] n of each governorengage stuffing-boxes, and movement of the corresponding piston Q iscushioned by its compression of atmospheric air in thesurroundingchamber. Incidental to gradual increase of load descent ofthe pistons Q, hav- The cell-containing ing their rods Q connected tothe arms R,

will cause the cross-arms k to operate on the nuts 19, and therebyefiect an unseating of the valves j to increase the volume of compressedair eXertive against the pistons P in pots K in proportion to saidincrease of load. When the load is lightened, the pressure on pistons Pwould cause undue elevation of the remainder of said load were it notfor the fact that there will be lift of the pistons Q, through themedium of the arms R, to cause the cross-arms 7c of the piston-rods Q tooperate upon the nuts q, and thereby unseat valves n, thus permittingescape of surplus compressed air through exhaust-ports of the governors.

The position of the cross-arm ft with respect to the nuts or othercontacts on the stems of valves j n is such that said valves are notaf-' fected by momentary concussions 0f the load, these concussionsbeing resisted and cushioned by the compressed air exertive against thepistons P in the pots K aforesaid.

As clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4, it is proposed to provide eachjournal of an-approximately standard truck-axle with a slip-collar Sbetween split bearing-rings, the opposing surfaces of the collar andbearing-rings being preferably conical. The sections of thebearing-rings are preferably intermatching and are clamped togetheraround an axle-journal, but do not grip the same, the slip-collar onsaid journal being held to rotation with the latter by means ofair-pressure, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. To facilitatelubrication of each axlejournal, the lower section T of the bearing-ringthereon is cut away.

Fitting each collar S and uppersection T of the correspondingbearing-rings is a shell U, made fast to said ring-sections by means ofscrews, as best shown in Fig. 6, and this shell is provided with a coverU, detachably held in place by screws, as is herein clearly illustrated.The casing comprising the shell U and its cover is impinged by akey-plate V, shown between ribs depending from the top of box W,containing material forlubricating the adjacent axle-journal, and thiscasing contains a plate X, that fits the slip-collar on saidjournal,,but is recessed upon its under side to form an air-space. Liftof plate X is limited by flanges thereof being opposed by innershoulders of the aforesaid casing, and a web Y of air-tight packingcovers said plate between the latter and another plate X,

detachably secured to the one aforesaid by means of screws. The packingY impinges against the inner sides of aforesaid casing to divide thecasing into a plurality of air-spaces, the outer one of which has thegreater area, and a flat spring 10, secured bya screw to said plate andthe one X, is under tension against cover U of said casin g tocompensate for wear on the latter plate in frictional contact with acollar S, upon which it is fitted.

The united plates XX and interposed packin gY are provided withregistering apertures constituting an air-passage 2? between the spacesabove and below this assemblage of parts, constituting what ishereinafter termed a bearing-block, the latter, as thus far described,being particularly designed for use with an axle A; but, as shown inFig. 6, each bearing-block for the middle axle B of a sixwheel truck mayhave a depending central rib a, constituting a partition dividing the.lower air-space, and the upper air-space is also centrally divided by apartition 11, depending from the cover U of the casing containin g thislatter form of 'bearing-blocl ,there being a passage 6 between theair-spaces on opposite sides of the central partitions. By means of thepartitions a 'u the compressed air in the casings for the middle-axlebearing-blocks is divided,that in one-half of each casing beingregulated and controlled independent of that in the other half,incidental to'the arrangement of the above-described governors, it beingdesirable to have division of about one-third of each half of the loadupon said middle axle and about two-thirds of the same half upon one ofthe other axles. Owing to the separation of air-space in the middle-axlebearing-block cases and the disposition of the governors variations ofpressure on either side of the aforesaid partitions will in no wayaffect the pressure on the other side of same.

Leading into each air-space above the several bearing-blocks arebranches to of the pipe system for distribution of compressed air, andthe latter finds its way through the passages '15 into spaces betweensaid bearingblocks and the journal-collars S, the exposed surface ofthese collars having antifriction rotation in said air that also acts inthe upper spaces to exert pressure on the aforesaid bearing-blocks,whereby the latter are kept in air-tight contact with said collars.

Fitting grooves in the outer bearing-ring surrounding each axle-journalis a packingring x, as shown in Fig. 2, and a cap-plate Z, held to saidbearing-ring by means of screws. As also shown in Fig. 2, the uppersection of each outer bearing-ring may be provided with a passagegoverned by a spring check-valve y, and in case of side thrust on thepart of the corresponding axle in one directionthe atmospheric airintermediate of said bearingring and adjacent collar S (that is held torotate with said axle by compressed-air pressure) will be drawn into thespace between an axle-journal and a cap-plate Z to increase theair-cushion resistance to the aforesaid axle when the latter has thrustin the opposite dibearing-blocks having air-tight contact with opposingsurface.

Each axle-journal may be provided with an- I nular shoulders z, engagedby grooves in sections of a split collar A, these collar-sections beingheld together by a contraction-ring b againstan inturned flange ofanother ring B, made fast to said collar by means of a screw 0', thespace intermediate of the latter ring and aforesaid collar being filledby a packingring d, held in place by a screw-threaded washer e, engagingthe tapped outer end of the flanged ring. Fitting the flanged ring B isanother ring 0, having inner grooves filled with packing material, andheld against an on ter flange at the inner end of the latter ring by ascrew-washer f, run on the same, is an as applicable in connection witha four or eight wheel truck, and in either case there exists thefundamental combination of a carrier, its load, and provision for anautomatically-regulated volume of compressed air intermediate of theload and carrier to compensate for variable-load pressure, absorbvibration, and lessen friction, as generically set forth in thepatentaforesaid. It also follows that there may be application ofcertain features of my improvements with a carrieremployed as a rotaryportion of a stationary machine or with other than railway-vehicles.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A carrier, its load, a reserve-supply reservoir for a volu me of automatically-regulated compressed air intermediate of the carrier and load,a spring-controlled lever, an air-pump cylinder mounted on the lever andcommunieating with said'reservoir, a casing also in communication withthe air-pump cylinder, a stem extending from a flexible diaphragm withinthe casing to lift said lever against the resistance of its controlling-sprin g, a friction.-

wheel carried by that portion of the aforesaid lever farthest from saidspring in opposition to a rotary device, and the air-pump piston linkedto the friction-wheel.

2. A carrier, its load, an accumulator mechanism for com pressed air, acarrier-sup ported pot having communication with said accumulatormechanism, apiston engaging the pot' and connected to the load, anair-chamber in off the passage of air through said nozzles, a governormechanism for automatic regulation of the volume of compressed airexertive against the piston in proportion to gradual variations ofopposing loadpressure, and means for automatic start and stop of thecompressed-air-accumulator mechanism accordingly as pressure of said airbecomes less or greater than a predetermined degree.

3. A carrier, its load, means for supplying a volume of compressed air,a carrier-supported pot, a piston engaging the pot and connected to theload, and a mechanism comprising a shell having pipe connection with thecompressed-air supply and pot, a spring check-valve arranged to governadmission of the compressed air to the shell, anothersprin g check-valvegoverning an exhaust-port of said shell, a piston having play in ashell-chamber against atmospheric air, a cross-arm having rod connectionwith the latter piston, contacts arranged on stems of the aforesaidvalves to oppose said cross-arm in opposite directions, and an armconnecting the load and rod of said latter piston.

4. A carrier, its load, means for supplying a volume of compressed air,a carrier-supported pot, a piston having engagement with the pot andconnection with the load, and a mechanism comprising a shell having pipeconnection with the reservoir and pot,a spring check-valve arranged togovern admission of the compressed air to the shell, another springcheck-valve governing an exhaust port of said shell, a piston havingplay in a shell-chamber against atmospheric air, a rod extending fromthe latter piston, a cross-arm adjustable longitudinally of thispiston-rod, contacts adjustable on stems of the aforesaid valves tooppose said cross-arm in opposite directions, an arm in connection withsaid piston-rod, and means for adj ustably connecting this arm with theload.

5. A rotative carrier, its load, and provision for anantomaticallya'egulated volume of compressed air intermediate of thecarrier and load, a carrier-fittingcasing havin g com munication withsaid volume of compressed air, and a recessed apertured bearing-blockprovided with a packing dividing the easing into a plurality ofcommunicating air-spaces, the outer one of which has the greater area.

6. A rotative carrier, its load, and provision vfor anautomatically-regulated volume of compressed air intermediate of thecarrier and load, a carrier-fitting casing having communication withsaid volume of compressed air, a recessed and apertured bearing-blockprovided with a packing dividing the easing into a plurality ofcommunicating air-spaces, the outer one of which has the greater area,and a spring under tension between the bearingblock and casing-cover.

7. A rotative carrier, its load and provision for anautomatically-regulated volume of compressed air intermediate of thecarrier and load, a carrier-fitting casing having communication withsaid volume of compressed air, and a bearing-block in the casingcomprising an apertured plate recessed upon its inner side to provideair-space, a Web of packing surmounting said plate to have contact withthe easing-walls, and another plate made fast to the one aforesaidagainst the packing, this packing and latter plate having apertures inregister with each other and the aperture in the former plate.

8. A railway-truck having its axle-lubricating boxes provided with fixedair-tight casings, recessed and apertured axle bearingblocks in thecasings dividing each of the latter into a plurality of communicatingairspaces, the outer one of which has the greater area; pots supportedon the running-gear of the truck, pot-engaging pistons in connectionwith the truck-frame, a compressed-air supply in communication with saidcasings and pots, and governors arranged to automatically regulate thevolume of compressed air exertive against the pistons and within theaforesaid casings.

9. A railway-truck having its axle-journals provided with slip-collars,bearing-rings in loose fit upon the journals adjacent to the ends ofsaid collars, air-tight casings fitting the collars and made fast to thebearing-rings, recessed and apertured bearing-blocks in the casingsdividing each of the latter into a plurality of communicatingair-spaces, the outer one of which has the greater area; pots supportedon the running-gear of the truck, potengaging pistons in connection withthe truckframe, a compressed-air supply in communication with saidcasings and pots, and governors arranged to automatically regulate thevolume of compressed air exertive against the pistons and Within theaforesaid casings.

10. A railway-truck having its axle-journals provided with slip-collars,bearing-rings engaged by the journals and having conical engagement withthe slip collars, cap-plates fast to the outer bearing-rings,packing-rings encompassing said journals within said outerbearing-rings, check-valves controlling passages in the aforesaid outerbearing-rings, air-tight casings fitting said collars and made fast tosaid bearing-rings, recessed and apertured bearing-blocks in the casingsdividing each of the latter into a plurality of communicatingair-spaces, the outer one of which ;has the greater area; pots supportedon the running-gear of the truck, pots engaging pistons in connectionwith the truck-frame, a

ICC

compressed-air supply in com munication with said casings and pots, andgovernors arranged to automatically regulate the volume ofcompressed-air exertive against the pistons and within the aforesaidcasings.

11. A railway-tru ck having the frame thereof provided With dependingpistons, pots on the runningear of the truck engaged by the pistons, acompressed-air supply in communication with the pots below said pistons,governors arranged to regulate the volume of compressed air exertiveagainst said pistons in proportion to gradual variations ofloadpressure, casings in communication with the automatically-regulatedvolume of compressed air, and recessed apertured bearingblocks dividingthe casings into a plurality of communicating air-chainbers, the outerones of which have the greater area.

12. A six-wheel railway-truck having the frame provided with dependingpistons, pots on the equalizing-bars of the truck engaged by thepistons, a compressed-air supply in communication With the pots belowsaid pistons, governors arranged to regulate the volume of compressedair exertive against said pistons in proportion to gradual variations ofload-pressure, casings in communication with the automatically-regulatedvolume of compressed air, recessed apertured bearingblocks dividing thecasings into a plurality of communicating air-chambers, the outer onesof which have the greater area, and partitions dividing the middlebearing-block casings with respect to the arrangement of pots andgovernors whereby there is fractional division of each half of the loadwith respect to the middle truck-axle and one of the outer truck-axles.

13. A railway-truck provided with means for the utilization of anautomatically-regulated volume of compressed air as an antivibratoryload-support, as Well as a frictionreducer, and having each of itslubricatingboxes provided with an inner dust-guard that consists of asplit collar encompassed by a contractive ring and having itssectionsprovided with grooves fitting an annular axle-rib, a ring havingan intnrned flange opposing the split collar, a screw detachablyconnecting the ring and collar, packing held in the space intermediateof said ring and collar, another flanged ring having packing fit on theone aforesaid but provided with a clearance-recess for said screw, and aflexible dust-proof web held on the outer ring in a recess of thelubricating-box.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand,atJuneau, in the county of Dodge and State of Wisconsin, in the presenceof two witnesses.

FERDINAND SOI-IUMACI-IER. lVitnesses:

ERNEST S. GOETSOH, OHR. A. CHRISTIANSEN.

